Steube supports aspiring immigrant lawyer

A Mexican immigrant seeking entrance to The Florida Bar drew the support of Florida House Republicans Thursday on a bill sponsored by State Rep. Greg Steube.
The House passed Steube’s bill, which would allow a law school graduate who is not a U.S. citizen to be admitted to the bar under certain circumstances.
Steube, a Sarasota Republican, had seemed an unlikely champion for the cause, which was unrelated to his original bill. He had recently voted against a measure favoring undocumented students.
“This has been one of the most challenging things that I’ve faced here,” Steube said. But he ultimately went to bat for the law graduate, Jose Godinez-Samperio, on the House floor Thursday.
The House vote seemed to indicate an ongoing shift in Republican immigration politics with the growing importance of the Hispanic vote.
Steube said he had originally filed an “innocuous” bill dealing with judicial notice but was persuaded to support a the Senate amendment inspired by Godinez-Samperio’s situation.
Godinez-Samperio was brought to the U.S. by his parents at age 9, and graduated from New College of Florida and law school at Florida State University. He passed The Florida Bar exam more than two years ago, but the Supreme Court blocked him from admittance to the Florida Bar because he is not a citizen.
“He is now unlawfully present in our country,” Steube said. But the details of the law graduate’s situation are compelling, he said.
Godinez-Samperio is one of the so-called “Dreamers” who has been allowed by executive order to legally remain and work in the U.S. He has a Social Security card and has registered for selective service.
“He pays taxes,” Steube said. If a war draft goes into effect, “he would be called up just as anyone else would.”
House Republicans peppered Steube with questions, asking if the bill would open the door for undocumented immigrants to become judges and whether more non-citizen law students were on the way.
But the House passed the bill 79-37 with Godinez-Samperio watching. The vote was his only way forward, as he has said he can’t apply for citizenship without first returning to Mexico.
“I felt ecstatic. I couldn’t believe how much support there was in the Legislature,” he said. “The Florida Legislature is clearly moving in the right direction, recognizing the importance of immigrants to this state.”
Rep. Doug Holder-Sarasota, Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, and Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersberg, voted for the bill. Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota voted against it.
Steube had brought the bill to the floor with an amendment to the Senate version, narrowing its scope to non-citizens who were brought to the U.S. as a minors and have lived here for more than 10 years. The person must be authorized to work in the U.S. and have an Social Security number.
The amended bill must return to the Senate, where the bill passed last week on a 25-12 vote widely seen as a test vote for another bill allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students.
Steve Uhlfelder, a lawyer and lobbyist who worked on the case pro bono, said he had heard the Senate would most likely pass the amended bill.
Both the in-state tuition and the Godinez-Samperio proposals have been supported by elements of the Republican leadership, including House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel. Gov. Rick Scott appeared at the Capitol Thursday to say he would sign the bill allowing Godinez-Samperio to be admitted to the bar, as well as the bill providing in-state tuition to undocumented students.
Even so, Godinez-Samperio supporter Talbot “Sandy” D'Alemberte, a lawyer and former state representative, said he wasn’t sure of the outcome of Thursday’s vote until the end.
“Steube has been such a gentleman throughout this process. I think he changed his mind,” D’Alemberte said.
“I was not sure, until I saw the green lights, that Steube was going to vote on the bill on final passage.”

Last modified: May 1, 2014
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